The invention relates to a connecting device, which is suitable for manufacturing and/or reinforcing a connection between two components, in particular two aircraft structural components. Furthermore, the invention relates to an assembly, in particular an aircraft structural assembly, in which a connection between two components is established and/or reinforced by means of such a connecting device. Finally, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing such an assembly.
In aircraft construction there are endeavours to use increasingly components that consist completely or partly of fiber-reinforced composite materials, for example carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP), as load-bearing components. For example, DE 10 2007 062 111 A1 describes a cross-member structure consisting of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, which cross-member serves to support the individual panels of an aircraft floor system for separating a passenger cabin from a cargo hold arranged underneath the passenger cabin. Furthermore, it is known from
DE 10 2004 001 078 A1, for example, to provide fuselage segments with a skin of fiber-reinforced composite materials executed in sandwich construction. Finally,
DE 10 2008 032 834 A1 relates to a stiffening component consisting of a fiber-reinforced composite material and formed for example in the form of an Omega stringer.
To manufacture aircraft structural components from fiber-reinforced composite materials, a multilayer laminate is normally first built up from fiber prepregs. The fiber prepregs comprise a woven or non-woven fabric of reinforcing fibers, which are usually provided with a surface layer of an unhardened duroplastic plastic material, for example an epoxy resin material. The laminate can be constructed manually or automatically. The duroplastic plastic material applied to the surfaces of the fibers is then hardened in an autoclave cycle under pressure and/or at an increased temperature, so that a composite material with a matrix of hardened duroplastic plastic and reinforcing fibers incorporated into the matrix is created. To connect two aircraft structural components consisting of fiber-reinforced composite materials, adhesive joints can be used. Alternatively to this, the components can be brought into contact with one another in the unhardened state and then hardened together.